


The Tale of Two Mothers

by Imperfect_Apollo



Series: Girlsies Week 2020 [4]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Nor did I write it in a few minutes, Totally didn't struggle with this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24908941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imperfect_Apollo/pseuds/Imperfect_Apollo
Summary: Tales of both the strike and of a mother's lost son.Girlsies Week Day: Esther Jacobs and Patrick’s (Finch) Mother!
Series: Girlsies Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796770
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. A Mother's Pride

**Author's Note:**

> I know on the broadway Davey says that his dad messed up his leg real bad but I've decided to go with the book's injury which is described as _'One night, clumsy with fatigue, he accidentally let the saw blade cut into the fleshy part of his hand, beneath the thumb.'_

To say Esther was overcome with grief when her husband came home with a bandaged hand was an understatement. She didn't know what would happen without his two-dollar daily wage. There was only so much that she and Sarah could do. Crocheting lace doilies only gave them fifty cents each. She had checked their savings and by watching every penny, she could make their savings for four dollars and eighty-seven cents last a week.

No one was that surprised when David said he'd work, clearly not willing to take no for an answer. They were all sad at the news as David was the top of his class. He had a great future but without him leaving, they wouldn't last. 

Her and Mayer had been about to protest but he had spoken to quickly to stop them. He'd work at The World, he exclaimed. It was the best job for a boy his age, he had claimed. She had tried to protest, claiming that the newsboys are orphans and toughs. They'd just turn him into a criminal. Mayer said there was a chance _he'd_ change _them_. That he might make them into scholars. They fought hours into the night but after tears on her end and hair tugging on Mayer's, David won. As her husband had said, _If he's going to work, he's a man. If he's a man, he should choose his own job._

David had left before she and the others had woken. However, there was one part of the agreement that hadn't been spoken about. _Les._ She wasn't ready to let go of one son, yet a small part of her wasn't surprised to discover Les had woken up and followed David. The young boy idolized his older brother after all and was willing to follow him wherever. He always did his best to do whatever David did, from the way the older Jacobs shot marbles to even the way he combed back his hair.

Despite Sarah telling her not to worry, she couldn't help it. Her two baby boys were who knows where in the city. Who knew what sort of thing could happen to them? What if they got hurt? What if Les got lost? What could be happening to them right now? 

"Ma...You should sit down." Sarah stood up, wrapping her arms around her pacing mother. "They'll come back."

"It's eight Sarah...What if they're hurt somewhere?" 

Before Esther could even reply, her sons walked in, David carrying a sleeping Les, followed by another boy. She didn't really know how to react. Naturally, both she and her husband were angry and scared but also confused as to why David would bring home a boy he didn't know. However, that fear quickly faded at the sight of coins being placed on the table from her eldest son.

It took a bit but the family managed to convince the Irish boy to stay for dinner. Despite not being very talkative that night, Jack seemed like an interesting boy and she believed that he would make a great friend for her son.

She should have known that something would have happened. David and Les had come home the next day with no money yet with news of a strike. Yet despite all the fear wrapping around her heart and gripping it tightly, she could see the fire in her boys' eyes and knew that no matter what anyone said, they wouldn't back down. 

Esther had been right. The boys had rallied their new friends only for David and Les to come out as the only newsies who hadn't been arrested. Jack himself had been forcefully taken away from them all and she wasn't stupid. She knew David would try to get him back. 

Drama swept through the strike from the rally to Jack betraying them but even so, her sons stood up and faced it head-on, risking everything until they won. 

She couldn't be any more proud of her sons once the strike was over.


	2. A Mother's Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She had lost one son to Death's arms and another to her own foolishness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people don't know this, but Finch's trading card has his full name as Patrick “Finch” Cortes, hence why I used Finch in this story!

Lilith wasn't the best mother and she knew it. She had no excuse as to what she had done. It all started when a boy showed up on her doorstep, nervously fiddling with his shirt, baring news she wished she'd never had to hear. Her sweet Gabriel was gone, crushed by a cart, life extinguished in the blink of an eye.

She allowed herself to be drowned in her sorrow, pushing away the remaining son she had. She hadn't realized how cruel she was until she woke up to find Patrick's window open, a bundle of clothes missing and an empty bed. The tears had flown as she collapsed to her knees. She had lost one son to Death's arms and another to her own foolishness. Patrick had looked too much like Gabriel and she had viewed that as an insult. Now she had lost him...She was alone. 

Each day, she found herself wandering the streets, staring at the faces of each boy that passed, trying desperately to find her missing son. The song that she once used to call him back to her whenever he strayed too far, was now full of despair. 

_Patrick, Darling._

Each day, she cursed herself for driving him away with cruel words and even crueller hands. 

_Since you left me, I’ve been undone._

Lilith cried every morning and night, walking past two rooms full of the ghosts of boys she had lost long ago in the past.

She didn't know why but she found herself drawn to the crowd of newsies, politely crowding a cart baring not only three nuns but coffee, tea and bread. She recognized them, she had spoken to them on occasion after she lost both boys. 

Gently, she drifted through the crowd, singing her song softly as she looked at each child carefully, searching for that familiar smile. It was like no one noticed her. Like _she_ was the ghost. 

Seeing nothing, she walked away from the crowd, trying to hide her tears. 

"Oi Finch! Ya finally decided ta stop playing Sleeping Beauty?"

"Oh shove off Cowboy!" Lilith couldn't help but let her eyes drift towards the laughing newsie who had just joined the others, her breath hitching at the sight of short brown curls rested on pale skin, one hand tucking a slingshot away into his pocket. She didn't even look to see who he had shot at. 

Her boy looked so happy, surrounded by others like him. She didn't know what to do. She always told herself that she'd run over to him once she finally found him. She'd hug him and beg for forgiveness, beg to just be in his life. To see him every now and again, but she was just frozen.

Her shoulders slumped slightly as he started to whistle, the familiar tune filling her head. It was the same one she was singing. She found solace in the fact he still remembered it and that he still sounded as sweet as a bird.

"Ere he goes again, singing like the bird he is!" 

"Ya just jealous you'se sound like a dyin' cat!" 

A weak smile graced her face as she turned away. She knew her boy was safe now and it brought comfort to her, knowing he was happy and had a new family.

_Mother loves you._

Finch looked over his shoulder, watching as he walked away. He had seen her around, yet never knew how to approach her. He hated the way he had been treated after his older brother had died but as he had grown, he'd come to accept it and figured out why she had spiralled. He looked so much like his older brother and if he was so crushed when older newsies aged out of the job or died of sickness, he couldn't imagine what it'd be like to lose a son in such a horrible way. He hadn't understood what his brother's friend had meant by 'A cart got him' at the time but now he knew. He was just glad she didn't have to see it.

Davey gently put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to speak to her?"

"I'se don't know Davey...Maybe one day but not right now. Maybe I'll find 'er later today..." He sighed, sipping at his coffee. "One day..."

The other nodded before walking off with Les by his side. He smiled softly as his eyes drifted away from the two brothers to the still fading figure of his mother. 

_God save my son._

_**God has saved your son. Don't worry mother. I'm safe now.** _


End file.
